"Get it back, now!" Clyde's neck flushed red with urgency as he roared, "The ring—get it back, get it back! A million gold coins to whoever takes it!"
The members of the Wild Thunder squad felt a flicker of greed in their eyes at the mention of 'a million gold coins.' Powerful warriors began to converge on Lin Lei in coordinated attacks, while the leader of the Wild Thunder division, 'Caesar,' was the first to come charging in.
"A ring? Must really be something precious then."
Seeing Clyde so frantic, Lin Lei let out a cold laugh. He planted his foot hard against the ground and used the recoil to launch himself sideways at tremendous speed. As he retreated, he quickly pulled the ring from his severed hand and slid it onto one of his own fingers.
"Lin Lei, that's a space ring!" Derinkoort exclaimed excitedly. His powerful soul had already detected the ring's unique properties.
"A space ring? A priceless space ring?" Lin Lei was stunned.
He had assumed the ring was some kind of symbolic heirloom passed down through the Fenlei royal family. He never expected it to be the legendary 'space ring.' Space rings were extraordinarily rare—among the five cardinal archbishops of the Church of Light, only two possessed one.
No one would be foolish enough to sell a space ring.
Once a space ring absorbed blood and bonded to its owner, no one else could open it. It was the perfect portable treasury. Of course… there was one way to open another person's space ring—kill them. Once the owner was dead, the ring became unclaimed. Then you could drip your own blood on it and claim it.
"Whoosh!"
Caesar charged forward, greatsword in hand, his eyes locked on Lin Lei as he tore through the air. The massive blade in his grip carried the force to split mountains, ripping through the air with a terrifying shriek as it swung down toward Lin Lei. Lin Lei could clearly see the red glow flowing along the edge of the sword.
Unstoppable!
"Swish!" Lin Lei's foot bounced off the ground, and he darted in yet another direction.
"BOOM!" The entire wall crumbled in every direction from the point of impact, shattered by that devastating strike. A wall nearly a hundred meters wide simply collapsed into a pile of rubble.
"So strong," Lin Lei thought with alarm.
In the distance, surrounded by nearly a dozen warriors, Clyde ignored the pain of his severed hand and screamed, "Now! Get that ring back for me! Now!!!" Clyde was truly losing his mind. He knew that even if the space ring fell into Lin Lei's hands, Lin Lei wouldn't be able to open it.
But if the ring stayed with Lin Lei, then even as its rightful owner, Clyde would never have a chance to open it.
Twenty-two billion gold coins, along with countless rare and precious treasures.
Thousands of years of accumulated wealth from the royal family. Having all of that treasure and fortune taken away would be more painful than death.
"CRASH!"
The wall collapsed, and a massive magical beast strode through the royal palace as if it were flat ground, the walls in its path crumbling like mud. The enormous beast had already spotted Clyde, Lin Lei, and their group, and it let out an excited roar. "ROAR~~"
"Purple-Striped Black Bear!" Lin Lei recognized the familiar silhouette and was shaken. He still remembered the terrifying power of the Purple-Striped Black Bear in the Misty Valley. This one was roughly the same size, though its aura seemed slightly weaker than the one from before.
This Purple-Striped Black Bear was the same ninth-level beast that had killed Duke Bernard's party, and it had now fought its way into the royal palace.
Spotting Clyde, Lin Lei, and their large group, the Purple-Striped Black Bear let out a delighted howl and charged toward them with huge, swift strides.
"THUD!" "THUD!" "THUD!" "THUD!"…
The Purple-Striped Black Bear was nothing short of a war machine. Standing three stories tall, with its thick, powerful paws, even the sturdiest city wall would crack and crumble under a single swipe. And now this beast had its eyes set on Lin Lei and Clyde's group.
"Clyde, you want the ring? Come and get it yourself!" Lin Lei shouted as he leaped nimbly from spot to spot.
"Bei Bei, take care of those warriors. Caesar—I'll handle him," Lin Lei transmitted through his soul.
"You got it, boss. Just watch me!" Bei Bei darted excitedly toward the group of warriors.
The warriors' so-called 'coordinated techniques' were all designed around human body shapes and vital points. But when facing a magical beast like Bei Bei—tiny, lightning-fast, and impossibly tough—they were almost completely useless.
Bei Bei raised his sharp claws and slashed down viciously. "Squelch!" The claw tore through most of a level-eight warrior's neck in a single strike, blood spraying everywhere as the man's head drooped to the side, attached by only a sliver of skin.
"Hmph." Caesar's eyes turned red with fury. With a怒哼, he swung his greatsword in a horizontal arc at Lin Lei.
Lin Lei vaulted into the air, his legs spinning like windmill blades, the tips of his feet slashing toward Caesar's neck like sharp blades.
Caesar leaned back to dodge the strike. Lin Lei's feet grazed past his face, missing by a hair's breadth. But as Caesar leaned back, his right foot lashed out like a blade, kicking hard at Lin Lei. Lin Lei, still airborne, didn't dodge at all.
"Shhhhk—"
Lin Lei's steel-like dragon tail tore through the air and lashed out at Caesar.
An even exchange!
If Caesar hit Lin Lei, then Lin Lei's dragon tail would certainly hit him too.
"Hmph." Caesar stomped his left foot hard against the ground and shot backward like an arrow released from its bow, his greatsword clashing against Lin Lei's dragon tail in the process. Caesar retreated a full hundred meters at breakneck speed.
"Whoosh!"
Caesar immediately came charging back in at a diagonal angle, his greatsword vibrating so violently that it formed five or six afterimages, leaving Lin Lei unsure of how to defend.
"Ah!" Bei Bei had crushed the skull of another level-seven warrior in a single bite. That made seven warriors Bei Bei had killed so far.
This only infuriated Caesar further—after all, he was the one who had trained these Wild Thunder warriors. But Lin Lei was simply too difficult to deal with. Lin Lei had not only two hands and two feet but also a dragon tail with terrifying offensive power. On top of that, his defenses were absolutely extraordinary.